Weekend-Engagement WEEK 171: Why and How I Budget

Sometime last week, my brother @ezuntimmy told me about the Weekend Engagement contest and I was thrilled and would've hopped in immediately but my schedule was a little bit tight. I had very little time to do anything as I had some other choir coming over to join my rehearsals last Sunday and arrangements needed to be made to save time and ensure a smooth delivery.
This week however, I have little time on my hands and upon seeing the topics and the ones in which my brothers have written, it just seems logical to explore my budgeting side. So I will start by talking about;

Budgeting
One thing most people don't really talk about when they discuss budgeting is the Opportunity Cost associated with it. I believe strongly that the resources available on Earth are finite and can be exhausted if care is not taken. So when consuming, it is important to only use that which is necessary. In order to do this, there need to be proper accounting; listing everything needed and then prioritizing the ones you really can't do without. that is to say, budgeting isn't all that pleasant.

How I Budget
I first started budgeting thoroughly about seven years ago when my Dad moved out and I had to fend for myself. At the time, my I was working a salary job and the pay was very meagre but still enough to feed me and another person every once in a while. Before I received my pay, I wrote out the essentials and calculated the cost of each of them for the total of a month. I went as far as finding cheaper brands of goods with a fair share of quality products instead of going for things my parents brought me up with. I did this because I was looking for ways to save some money for investments.
As not to be malnourished, I ensured I got bulk food items of different sorts and didn't go for anything that wasn't part of the three basic human need (Food, Shelter and Clothing).
That is I budget by;

• Listing all the necessary items
• Costing them individually after verifying prices
• Prioritizing the important ones
• Try finding substitute for the things the money/resources at hand don't cover.

Why I Budget
As I said earlier, the resources available to man is finite and to squander without budgeting or quantifying available resources, extinction is inevitable. And that is why most people/communities suffer even with multiple resources.
I mostly budget because I understand this simple principle and having tried it over the years and seeing it pay off, I stuck with it and i'm glad I did.

Benefits of Budgeting (To Me)
Over the years, I have weathered many storms because of budgeting. There are times even when I don't have anything tangible coming in as an income for a month or so but I still eat twice a day and comfortably even without touching my savings. If you don't discipline yourself to budget (Because budgeting is a discipline) no matter the income you get, you're just a step away from being bankrupt or even going in debt.
I would like to point out that the scope of budgeting is quite large and goes beyond the household or food items but for limited time, I focused on that which I discerned to be essential.

Trust you had a wonderful weekend (cause I did).
I wish you all the best this week
Thank you for visiting.